Gunmen fire rockets at Egyptian army post in Sinai

Gunmen attacked an Egyptian army camp near Rafah, on the border with the Gaza Strip, late Tuesday.

According to initial reports, the gunmen fired RPGs at the camp, and Egyptian troops returned fire. Loud explosions and gunfire could be heard in the area.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Sinai has been the most lawless corner of Egypt since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in early 2011. Since the military deposed the Islamist president Mohammed Morsi on July 3, militant groups have lashed out with increased violence. The peninsula has seen several recent attacks, assassination attempts and kidnappings. In the past two weeks, at least eight Egyptian security officers have been killed in battles with gunmen, the most recent on Friday.

On Monday, Israel approved Cairo’s request to allow two more infantry battalions into the Sinai region.

The new forces will join a large number of Egyptian troops already operating in the area, carrying out a major crackdown on terrorist activity, in an agreed departure from the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace agreement.

The additional forces mean that Egypt now has 11 infantry battalions deployed in the Sinai, as well as a tank battalion and assault helicopters — all emplaced with Israel’s formal approval, as required by the treaty.